


Who's the Fool Now?

by ImmortalCoelacanth



Category: A Hat in Time (Video Game)
Genre: April Fools, Gen, I am not creative but I did my best, There is a special guest character featured in this fic, so many pranks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-03
Updated: 2018-04-03
Packaged: 2019-04-17 16:38:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,785
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14193195
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ImmortalCoelacanth/pseuds/ImmortalCoelacanth
Summary: Certain holidays will stay the same, no matter what planet you might be on. April 1st, commonly known as "April Fools" is just one of those days. Pies will be thrown and pranks shall be had on this festive day! Now, what's with that weird shadow lurking about?





	Who's the Fool Now?

**Author's Note:**

> I just had to write something for this even though it’s a bit late! By the way, keep an eye out for a certain character some of you guys might be familiar with...
> 
> *winks*

The sun shone down on the surface of the unnamed planet, making the inhabitants awaken from their slumber. Mafia woke up and started their daily ritual of picking on the non-Mafia locals of Mafia Town with grins that were bigger than usual on their faces. The birds began their shifts at the studio, though the Moon Penguins found themselves a bit on edge this specific morning.

 

Only Subcon Forest and the Alpine Skyline seemed unaffected, granted one of the inhabitants of Subcon Forest was especially gleeful, his trickster smile stretched all the way across his face.

 

For you see today was a special day on this planet. A day to celebrate fun and jokes.

 

Today was a holiday locally known as “April Fools”, a time where the inhabitants of the planet would try to prank each other in the name of fun, but there were always those who took it a _bit_ too far.

 

Snatcher, the Conductor, and the Mafia were the usual suspects, though recently a certain mustached girl had also joined in on the “fun”.

 

Back in Mafia Town there had already been several different cases of paint cans falling on unsuspecting victims, these targets being the Mafia themselves. The other citizens were quite relieved the pranks were not targeting them and even laughed a bit when they noticed a disgruntled, fuchsia Mafia walk by.

 

It had gotten to the point where certain Mafia hid themselves on the rooftops in an attempt to find the prankster, but even they became the victims of the paint based assault.

 

Of course there were still several pranks that had been set up by the Mafia that were going on, such as tripping an unsuspecting non-Mafia local into a plate of spaghetti and knocking items out of someone’s hands, but these plans were soon forgotten as vengeance took root in the minds of the Mafia.

 

They needed to find who had been pranking them and punish them!

 

Of course that was much easier said than done.

 

No matter what they did they could not seem to find the agile prankster! Traps did not work nor did it seem like the Mafia could threaten them out of wherever they were hiding.

 

Later on the paint cans had been switched out for fruit, specifically tomatoes. The Mafia found themselves pelted whenever they tried to walk out in the open by the juicy, red plants. Once more an attempt was made to find the perpetrator, and once again they failed.

 

Though this time failure ended in a whole bucket of both tomatoes _and_ bright blue paint being dumped on the Mafia. As the groans and shouts echoed through the streets a figure watched from above.

 

It was the person they had been searching for.

 

“Ha! Take that you dumb blockheads!” Mustache Girl muttered from her hidden location. She was currently hiding in the bell tower Hat Kid had spoken to her at, watching the chaos break out below her.

 

Due to the embarrassment of being pranked and failing to find the perpetrator, the Mafia were starting to accuse each other and small fights were starting. Tomato juice and paint flew through the air as shouts rang out.

 

The girl grinned, it was a good thing their leader was, _indisposed_ at the moment so the entertaining fighting could continue.

 

Why take out the bad guys when they could take each other out, she thought to herself while watching one Mafia throw another into the ocean around the island.

 

Now Mustache Girl was perfectly content with watching the brawl happening below her while throwing the occasional tomato at the so called “bad guys”, but something hit the back of her cape, breaking open and staining it with water.

 

She spun around and managed to find bits of plastic scattered around. It looked like what had hit her had been a purple water balloon.

 

“Who threw that?!” Mustache Girl shouted, ready to throw down with whoever dared ruin her pranking streak.

 

The sound of someone blowing a raspberry was her answer.

 

She spun around and noticed a familiar, hatted figure standing on one of the rooftops off to the side, several buckets of what could only be more water balloons resting beside her.

 

“You!” She shouted, narrowing her eyes at the other child. “You wanna fight or something?!”

 

Hat Kid grinned and merely lifted up another water balloon, aiming at Mustache Girl.

 

In response the mustached girl lifted up a tomato, a smirk stretching across her face. “Oh, it’s on!”

 

Tomatoes and water balloons flew through the air, some hitting buildings and other even colliding in midair, creating a miniature rainstorm of tomato juice and water that splattered across the ground below them. 

 

While not all of the attacks reached their intended targets, they _did_ end up hitting someone. The confused Mafia on the roads below, now no longer fighting, ran back and forth in an attempt to dodge the falling projectiles.

 

The few non-Mafia inhabitants who lived in this area swiftly locked the doors to their houses, taking their own sort of revenge against their suit wearing tormentors by refusing to offer them safety.  

 

It was satisfying, _deeply_ _satisfying_.

 

One of the paint and tomato juice soaked Mafia had finally had enough and decided to go back to his home to clean up. It was challenging dodging the falling projectiles and the other Mafia, but he finally managed to escape the prank war torn street and walk back to his house.

 

When he reached his home and walked inside, he took a moment to knock the variety of stains off of his shoes and onto his doormat, or he tried to.

 

“Wait, where is Mafia doormat?”

 

Meanwhile, a shadowy figure hidden in one of the alleyways let out a loud laugh and vanished, malice present in his glowing yellow eyes.

 

**xxxxxxxxxx**

At Dead Bird Studio the few Moon Penguins present were, _tense_ to say the least. The Conductor had been acting oddly nice for the entire morning, and there was even a _smile_ on his face!

 

Or as close it could be to a proper smile.

 

Even the Owls were on edge as they watched their director walk around, no shouting or cursing coming from him. It was weird and freaking them all out.

 

There had already been several instances of the Owls dropping items or knocking over set pieces simply because they had been distracted watching the Conductor and the strange mood that had taken over him.

 

And absolutely none of them had been yelled at!

 

It was pretty clear that the Conductor had pulled _some_ kind of prank, with that downright _sinister_ smile on his face, now they were just waiting for the other shoe to drop.

 

Suddenly a loud, high pitched shriek echoed through the studio.

 

All of the Moon Penguins winced, immediately recognizing what, or to be more specific _who_ had made that noise. It had been quite some times since they had last heard him scream that loud, and even then that was only because someone had broken his favourite mic.

 

What terrible, monstrous thing, had the Conductor done to make DJ Grooves scream like that, both the Moon Penguins and the Owls wondered.

 

Their unspoken questions were soon answered as said DJ appeared from around a corner appearing very...

 

Different.

 

His afro was a bright, nauseating green, and his large eyebrows were a garish orange.

 

 _Oh no_ , was the collective mental groan that rang through the minds of every Dead Bird Studio employee.

 

“ _CONDUCTOR, WHAT DID YOU DO?!”_ The distraught DJ shouted at the top of his lungs.

 

“Oh, I just used a bit o’ dye ta make yer hair look better.” The Conductor said, laughing as he spoke.

 

“Oh, and don’t worry about it coming out easy, it’ll take more than just water ta get rid o’ it!” He added, his smug smile taking over his entire face. It had been tough finding enough dye in those colours to be used for his prank, never mind how expensive the products actually were, but looking at Grooves’ face he came to one conclusion.

 

It was _totally_ worth it!

 

“It’s permanent?!” The horrified DJ shrieked, making several nearby panes of glass crack at the volume.

 

“Oh ye, I ain’t goin’ fer that cheap shit dye most people use!” The Conductor drawled, an evil grin stretched across his face. “Only fer today ye get the best, DJ Grooves.”

 

The penguin could barely speak through the rage that consumed him. How _dare_ the Conductor do something as, as _childish_ as dying his hair a different colour! He would get vengeance, one way or another-

 

Then he remembered his earlier plans for this, _special_ day. While his idea had not been intended for revenge it would certainly work now...

 

“Oh, and by the way Conductor.” DJ Grooves said, a hint of glee in his voice. “I hope you like the new look I’ve given your train.”

 

“What?” The bird squawked, a look of horror spreading across his face. “What did ye do to me train!?”

 

“Why don’t you go and see.” With that the Conductor sprinted outside towards the back area where he usually left his train. The other employees followed, curious as to what the DJ had apparently done.

 

The railroads that ran across this specific region had been designed to connect to the studio so he could use his train as a means of getting to work. It also made it quite a bit easier to get to the train for filming and doubled as a safe spot for the locomotive to be located.

 

Or had been safe, that is.

 

The train looked like it had been in the center of an explosion of glitter. The reflective substance was _everywhere_ , not one inch of the train was safe. There was pink, blue, gold, silver, a whole rainbow of glitter coating the locomotive, and it was even in patterns!

 

For a moment the Conductor was actually impressed by the sheer effort needed to pull this off, and then the rage settled in.

 

“I had my Moon Penguins give it a makeover, make it look a bit more _glamorous_.” He said, hiding his smile behind the hand not holding his mic.

 

“But how do I get this, this _trash_ off?!” The Conductor wailed, facing the DJ while he spoke and flailing his arms towards his train.

 

“The glitter was attached using super crazy glue, darling.” DJ Grooves trilled, laughter present in his voice. “Only the best for you, Conductor.”

 

Silence reigned for a moment, and then the shouting match began. The employees took several steps back as the shouts were thrown back and forth, fearing that physical objects might soon follow.

 

“You’ve put my entire filming schedule behind thanks to this immature prank you decided to pull!”

 

“Ye ruined my train! How am I supposed to run it now?! There’s glitter in the _engine-”_

“If you hadn’t-”

 

“Why I oughta-”

 

“Watch it bird face!” A feminine voice suddenly shouted.

 

The Moon Penguins and Owls scattered once they caught sight of the commotion going on behind their bosses. The majority of them ran back inside the building but some took cover using the various boxes littered about, eager to see what was going to happen next.

 

The arguing birds both looked towards where the shout had come from at the same time, anger still present on both of their faces. A familiar flash of purple and yellow ran by them, and then...

 

A pie hit the Conductor in the face, a banana cream pie, to be more specific.

 

The bird let out a shout, drowning out DJ Grooves’ laughter as he hastily clawed the creamy substance off of his face.

 

“You dummies got in the way, I almost managed to hit her!” Mustache Girl complained as she came to a halt beside the birds, inspecting her unintended target who had managed to scrape most of the pie off of his face. Hat Kid stood off to the side, casually taunting her mustached opponent by sticking her tongue out.

 

A Subconite joined the group, a sack full of other pies slung over his shoulder. There were more pies...

 

The Conductor grinned and walked over to the small shadow. “Hey lad, mind if I borrow one of yer pies?”

 

The shadow shrugged, placed the bag on the ground, and opened it up. “Go crazy.”

 

The Conductor smiled and lifted one of the pies out of the bag. He threw it up and down in his hand a couple times, testing the weight, and when he found it to be satisfactory started walking over to the confused DJ.

 

The Conductor took one more step forward and slammed the pie directly into DJ Grooves’ face, drawing gasps from the audience that now surrounded them.

 

The penguin clipped his mic back onto his clothes and then lifted both his hands up. He brought them to his pie coated glasses and used his fingers to flick the remains of the treat off, allowing him to see the smug smirk on the Conductor’s face.

 

“It is _on_ , darling.” He growled, grabbing another pie from the Subconite and flinging it at his foe.

 

Pies and even glitter flew through the air as each side, one consisting of the Moon Penguins and the other of the Owls, fought with their leaders. Hat Kid and Mustache Girl stood off to the side and watched the brawl for a couple seconds before facing each other once again.

 

As entertaining as the fighting was, they had their own battle to get back to.

 

The two fights raged on, all combatants grabbing pies from the _multiple_ bags the Subconite had brought in to use against their foes. Soon even the ground beneath them was hazardous, covered with the innards of the pastries being used as weapons.

 

There were several instances when the two battles ended up fusing into one, with Hat Kid and Mustache girl dancing through the crossfire, but everyone was focused on winning the pie throwing war that had broken out.

 

Too focused to notice the pair of yellow eyes that watched them from the shadows.

 

Meanwhile back in the studio the Receptionist, who had been watching the pie battle thanks to the various security cameras located around the building, heard a noise from the entrance in front of him and looked up.

 

“Hello-wait, where’d the welcome mat go?”

 

**xxxxxxxxxx**

“Hey I got a video of the newbie and that weird mustache girl duking it out in Mafia Town!”

 

“No way, show me!”

 

The inhabitants of Subcon Forest had a bit of a different tradition then the rest of the natives when celebrating April Fools. The typical routine consisted of recording _all_ of the pranks that had occurred and saving them for future use.

 

Blackmail, bribes, and just stupidly funny moments to laugh at.

 

It had started not long after Snatcher had discovered what a camera was and how to use it. He had then come up with the idea of sending the Subconites out to record the various prank wars that happened. Originally he used to only send his subjects to Mafia Town but after the birds had taken over the studio...

 

Let’s just say there was a _lot_ more material to be recorded.  

 

No one really kept track of how long this had been going on, but the Mafia were well aware of the tradition where embarrassing videos that would appear on their doorsteps with a note attached. The instructions usually dealt with a task Snatcher did not want his subjects to do, so he would blackmail his poor victims into completing them.

 

Contracts only worked if he could get his victims to sign them, but this method allowed for more targets, and he did not have to worry about getting some idiot to stumble into one of his traps.

 

What, did you expect Snatcher to _wait_ for his victims to come to him? A proactive soul stealing demon is a _successful_ soul stealing demon after all!

 

Said shadow was currently floating in front of his house, a bundle of papers held in his hands. He watched as his subjects ran back and forth, enjoying the bounty of videos they had collected.

 

April Fools was also a day that brought genuine joy to Subcon Forest, something Snatcher was grateful for.

 

“HEY SNATCHER!” The hat brat shouted from behind him. The shadow spun around and looked at the, surprisingly clean, child. She must have gone to her ship to get cleaned up, he thought to himself as she ran up to him.

 

_Good, at least I won’t have to worry about her trying to get anything on me! The drool was bad enough..._

 

“Hey kiddo,” Snatcher said as he glanced over the latest report of how many videos his subjects had managed to gather, some of them featuring the child in front of him. “How’d the pranking go?”

 

Hat Kid opened her mouth to speak, but before she could answer there was a noise that sounded oddly metallic that came from somewhere. Both the child and shadow glanced around in an attempt to catch sight of whatever had made that noise, and they quickly got their answer.

 

“Did somebody say prank?” A masculine voice trilled from above.

 

Both Hat Kid and Snatcher screamed as some liquid rained down from above, staining them some random colour. The child shuddered but noticed something strangely familiar about the scent, it was chemically yet fruity...

 

It smelled like blueberries!

 

Moonjumper had dumped some kind of food colouring on them and dyed them both blue!

 

Hat Kid suffered the least from the prank as her hat and cape took the brunt of the food colouring and even then all she had to do was put her clothes in a washing machine to get them clean. Snatcher, on the other hand, was nowhere near as lucky.

 

“MOONBOOOOOY!” The shadow roared as he desperately tried to shake the blue liquid from his body and the papers in his grasp. Unfortunately the colouring had already seeped into the strange material that made up his body, staining both it and the report.

 

“YOU’LL PAY FOR THIS!”

 

Moonjumper chuckled, a suspiciously empty bucket dangling from one of his hands. “Oh hush Snatcher, it was just a harmless prank.”

 

Hat Kid was certain if Snatcher was not blue at the moment, he would be red with rage.

 

The shadow dropped the papers in his hands, snarled, and lunged at the floating corpse who dodged his attack with a laugh. This continued on for some time while Hat Kid watched from the ground below, occasionally laughing when Moonjumper decided to taunt Snatcher and further enrage the shadow.

 

“You made me BLUE!” Snatcher snarled, lashing out with his talons and once more failing to hit the chuckling corpse.

 

“Not all of you.” Moonjumper pointed out with a smile, pointing at the shadow’s tail.

 

Now back down on the ground Hat Kid smirked to herself, a mischievous look appearing on her face. She had not gotten the chance to prank Snatcher today and it looked like an opportunity had just presented itself.

 

She waved, catching Moonjumper’s attention. She then pointed to Snatcher and gestured towards the ground. His eyes widened and his smile got bigger once he realized what the child’s plan was.

 

From there he began to slowly descend, not too quickly so he did not give the plan away, with Snatcher following closely behind.

 

Once the shadow was in range Hat Kid made her move. She lunged towards him and wrapped her arms around his tail, quickly staining it blue because of the wet food colouring still on her clothes.

 

“KID!” Snatcher shouted as he desperately tried to pry the child off of his tail. Unfortunately her grip was a bit too strong and his position was a bit too awkward to get a proper hold on her. So he was stuck watching the giggling girl cling to him, completely forgetting his earlier anger at Moonjumper in the process.

 

Moonjumper then took this opportunity to quietly sneak away, though not before taking a photo of the adorable image with a random camera of course.

 

Hey, if Snatcher wanted to leave his stuff lying around then he would use them! Now he just needed to figure out how to get the shadow’s telescope...

 

Finally the laughing child had enough of torturing her ghostly friend and let go, smugly smiling up at him. He frowned down at her and began to mess with her hat, drawing annoyed shouts from her.

 

She huffed and knocked his hands away, ignoring the few chuckles that escaped him. The duo looked at each other for a couple moments before breaking into smiles. While they usually pestered each other there was no denying the joy they felt when seeing each other.

 

And Hat Kid was turning out to be quite the mischief maker, Snatcher could not be more proud!

 

“You wanna watch some of the videos I have?” The shadow asked, glancing down at the child in front of him. A massive smile promptly appeared on her face and she eagerly nodded. With that they made their way back to his home, still blue from the food colouring.

 

It had already dried so there was no point in rushing to get it off. They might as well enjoy watching people get messed with before they bothered cleaning up.

 

“Hey Snatcher,” Hat Kid said when they reached the entrance of the shadow’s home. “Didn’t you used to have a doormat here?”

 

Indeed the small mat placed right inside his home, mainly for the kiddo’s sake so she did not track mud everywhere, was mysteriously absent.

 

“It was probably Moonjumper.” The shadow scoffed, folding his arms. “Only he would be lame enough to steal a _doormat_.”

 

“But Moonjumper already pranked us.” The child pointed out making a confused expression appear on both of their faces.

 

Snatcher took a moment to ponder the slight conundrum before shrugging. Eh, it was just a doormat anyways, something that could be easily replaced.

 

Psh, stealing a doormat, that was barely an _annoyance_ , never mind a proper prank!

 

“And don’t think I didn’t see you watching me in Mafia Town!” Hat Kid added, snapping the shadow out of his thoughts. “You didn’t have to lurk in that alley like some kind of weirdo.”

 

“Uh kid, I’ve been here the entire time.”

 

“Yeah right,” The child scoffed, copying Snatcher’s earlier pose by crossing her arms. “Like there’s some other spooky, yellow eyed shadow running around!”

 

**xxxxxxxxxx**

In the depths of Subcon Forest, far from Snatcher’s home and any other dwellings, a shadow rose up from the ground. It was significantly different from the ruler of the forest, but similar at the same time.

 

This shadow was pitch black and jagged, two points sticking out of its head. Its hands resembled pitchforks and its entire body was angular, narrow. Yellow eyes cracked open, light burning within their depths and a sinister grin stretched.

 

Yes, this figure appeared to be the complete embodiment of evil. An aura reeking of malevolence, combined with that demonic appearance! It was evil, pure evil.

 

He was the Evil King, Lord Stanley Hihat Trinidad the XIV, more commonly known as _Stan_.

 

You see Stan had, somehow, learned about the April Fools tradition on this planet and the title of “Prank King” that was bestowed on the best prankster. Not that he knew most forgot about bestowing that title on someone in the rush of having fun pranking each other, but then again Stan was oblivious towards most things.

 

Of course he knew right away that he would get the title regardless of how amazing his pranks were, _they were all amazing_ , but decided to mess with the local populace anyways.

 

This included, locking people’s doors once they left their house so they could no longer get inside, stealing a plate of spaghetti from a Mafia that was holding it outside the window above some random fool, and stealing doormats.

 

He was such an excellent Evil King! Surely the land had not faced a terror like him before!

 

Then again there _was_ that strange shadow that looked like him...

 

He had been more than a little angry when he arrived at the forest and spotted his purple doppelganger, having been reminded of the Fake Evil Kings, but a replica would never be as good as the original.

 

“And they do say imitation _is_ the greatest form of flattery.” The Evil King mused to himself, one pointed talon scratching at his face. But he could not spend long thinking about his cheap lookalike, he had a whole new world just begging to be ruled by a terrible creature such as himself! Now he just had to make sure no one got in his way, especially that _annoying_ woman...

 

“James!” Stan barked, summoning his evil butler.

 

With a sharp _crack_ James fell down from one of the surrounding trees, a noose wrapped around his legs. He swung back and forth until he was facing the Evil King, his signature smile on his face.

 

“Has the cow realized where I am yet?”

 

“No, she is still interrogating Slave Ari, your evilness!” A dark smirk crossed Stan’s face and he laughed in glee.

 

“Excellent! My reign of terror on these new, strange lands shall continue uninterrupted by that blubbery _hero_.” He spat the last word, disgust crossing his face. That stupid cow had been a thorn in his side for months, but no more!

 

Once again Stan began to laugh, and this time he threw his arms up into the air. One of his pointed hands brushed against a random rope hanging down from one of the trees. This is where everything went wrong.

 

The rope shot up into the air, startling the Evil King out of his laughing fit. Then there was a strange metallic noise that rang out from above them, making Stan look up in an attempt to figure out what had just happened.

 

And then something dropped from the sky, it was...

 

A bag full of banana cream pies.

 

_SPLAT!_

 

The creamy confections landed all over the confused Evil King, absolutely coating him in a layer of sweet delight. A piece of paper also fell, most likely having been attached to the bag with the pies, but Stan was a bit _too_ angry to notice it.

 

Luckily his butler did.

 

James plucked the note from the air and looked it over. When he finished reading he passed it over to the pie covered shadow, struggling to keep the growing grin off of his face.

 

Stan wiped as much of the pie off of his face as he could and then held the note up, eyes twitching as he read it.

 

 _Hey bestie! I figured you wouldn’t notice if I stole some of those pies of yours and if you’re reading this then it looks like I was right! This is my backup plan in case I can’t figure out a good prank for you, but maybe this’ll be the_ second _time I get you today!_

_Signed, your best friend forever, Hat Kid._

_:D_

The paper burst into flames, and so did he.

 

The sugary substance was burned off of his body with the searing heat of his anger. How _dare_ such a pathetic whelp pull a prank on _him_ , AND claim to be his best friend! The great, Evil King Stan did not have friends, he only had _slaves_ and _servants_!

 

“Why that little-”

 

 _“STAAAAAAAAAN!”_ An unfortunately familiar feminine voice shouted, interrupting what had been the start of a rant. Stan cursed under his breath and chucked the smoldering note away. How had the blubbery female found him already?!

 

He spun about and faced his butler, who was still hanging upside down. “I thought you said the slave was taking care of her?!”

 

The evil butler shrugged. “I believe Ari has just, oh what do they call it, _sold you out_ , your maliciousness.”

 

The Evil King snarled under his breath and quickly came up with a plan. There was no _way_ he was going to bother fighting that, that _fat cow_ when he had a brand new world to conquer. No, her defeat would have to wait until later.

 

“Quickly James, we must retreat! I’ll get my vengeance on this _Hat Kid_ some other time!”

 

And with that the Evil King and his evil butler vanished from sight, the noose hanging, now abandoned, from the tree. Plans of revenge were already running through Stan’s mind. He would punish whoever dared prank him, and Ari for selling him out!

 

But, that is a story for another time.

**Author's Note:**

> I’m honestly surprised I haven’t seen any fics involving the almighty, Evil King Stan! Also I apologize if Stan and James is out of character, I’ve never played Okage and the last time I watched a playthrough was years ago. 
> 
> Anyways I hope you guys enjoyed, please leave a review telling me what you think, and I’ll see you later~
> 
> \- ImmortalCoelacanth


End file.
